Made using a 3D printer, the urban vehicle can reach a distance up to 200 kilometers per charge.

By BOHEMIST STAFF

PRAGUE – In an effort to improve inner-city transportation, a Prague startup has been working on a cost-efficient vehicle completely powered by electricity that can mostly be made from a 3D printer, according to new local reports. The company, called 4ekolka, released a minute-long amateur video of the new vehicle scaling a driveway.

According to Hybrid.cz, the urban electric vehicle will be able to hit a top speed of 55 kilometers per hour (34 mph) and can reached up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) per charge. The vehicle is also considerably more ergonomic than other electric vehicles, consuming just 100 Wh per charge, about half or a third less than other known similar vehicles.

“This car opens up opportunities for completely new types of vehicles that are much more responsible and sustainable for the future,” project’s designer and architect Petr Chládek was quoted as saying in the story.

He said that the idea to build an ergonomic vehicle like this came from what he called an inefficient inner-city transportation system that is overrun by expensive taxis, time-consuming mass transportation and wasteful personal cars.

“The basic idea of the project was that all current forms of transport people around town are not good.”

This vehicle would be able to handle the day-to-day travel needs of most people urban Europe, which is about 50 kilometers a day, according to figures sited by Hybrid.cz.

“Electric vehicles can be used with high efficiency and energy can ride without a local or even any emissions and significantly reduce smog load in the Czech basin,” said Chládek.

The prototype for the vehicle in the video below cost Chládek about 300,000 Kč, half of which was spent developing the batteries and battery management system.